The Carolinas Healthcare System (CHS) Department of Family Medicine in partnership with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC-Charlotte) Department of Geography and Earth Sciences requests funds to initiate a primary-care practice-based research network (PBRN). The objective of the PBRN is to study healthcare delivery to the Hispanic population in Charlotte, North Carolina. This population has seen unprecedented growth due to increased Hispanic immigration to the area, challenging the ability of the medical community to adequately provide healthcare services. Charlotte Latinos are also underutilizing primary care services, despite the existence of a nearby group of primary care ambulatory clinics created to provide services for disadvantaged populations. The clinics are managed by CHS and share a common informatics infrastructure, yet no formal research network linking the clinics exists. A PBRN whose central focus is facilitating research and information exchange between clinic providers will be developed to acquire a detailed understanding of the origin and impact of barriers to healthcare access among the targeted Hispanic population. The strength of the proposed PBRN lies in the involvement of two collaborating academic institutions that will be linked with healthcare providers and the community from the outset. It has been demonstrated that pairing the "hands-on" experience of primary care physicians with university departments knowledgeable about the research process, creates the optimal partnership for a successful PBRN. The union of community members with research groups to form a community-based research team has been shown to create successful collaborations that empower communities and improve community health. Each of the elements of the proposed PBRN brings a unique perspective to the network. The CHS Department of Family Medicine has experience implementing the community-oriented primary care model, which has emerged as a valuable tool for improving health outcomes in transitioning communities. The UNC-Charlotte Department of Geography and Earth Sciences has experience in using Geographic Information Systems which will be used to evaluate the distribution of healthcare services and health care access within the Hispanic community. The inclusion of community health organizations adds the vital dimension of community-participatory research to the network. The information obtained from the proposed study will be used to fulfill the long-term goal of the PBRN, which is to develop and implement interventions to increase the efficacy of health care delivery to this and other underserved communities in the Charlotte area. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]